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@authormariellahunt
The year of reading old books
This year, I am doing something that feels unnatural to me. Instead of going out and looking for new books to add to my shelves, I’m going to look at those shelves for books I already own. It is not necessarily in the spirit of anti-consumption, for if I won the lottery, I would still spend all of that money on literature. Rather, it is a matter of wishing to honor the titles that I already own,…
How the Post Office Created America
I have long been a fan of ‘snail mail,’ the practice of writing letters on paper. Using envelopes and stamps, we send tangible evidence of affection to family and friends. However, our mailboxes do not provide the same sort of thrill as in olden days; many approach it every day with a chagrin. It seems that, lately, we receive junk mail and advertisements more often than letters. We traded all…
5 Reasons to (Finally) Read 1776
All book lovers know the happy dilemma of having too many books. Many of us are blessed with shelves and shelves of volumes that we intend to read one day. There are so many—it could be a long time!—but no, we are not donating them. How dare you suggest such a thing? We’re not donating them, but we haven’t read them yet, either. The reason is simple: We have several other books to choose from.…
Mary Todd Lincoln Wasn’t ‘Crazy’
This week, I discovered an article on a website called President Lincoln’s Cottage. It mentions a piece published in The Washington Post which bears the title, “Mary Lincoln wasn’t ‘crazy.’ She was a bereaved mother.” I agree with the title—and am grieved that such an article is necessary. It was written by Callie Hawkins, who had been working at Abraham Lincoln’s Cottage for ten years when,…
The Early Sorrows of Martha Washington
If you’ve been keeping up with my newsletter, you’ve seen me talking about my new project—The Tearoom: First Ladies. It’s going to be a series focusing on the wives of US Presidents. They will not necessarily be posted in historical order. My inaugural First Ladies post was about Mary Todd Lincoln—read it here: Mary Todd Lincoln Wasn’t ‘Crazy’ For First Ladies, I will be writing posts in the…
Martha Washington: The First Founding Mother
Read more of my historical articles here! We can learn a lot from history by focusing on the ladies who were alive at the time, finding out where they stood and how the changes affected them. In the case of American history, the wives of the presidents are an excellent focal point—after all, they were very often in the room when momentous decisions were made. Though they were often quiet, these…
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History in Art, #1
Life of George Washington – Deathbed (1851) by Junius Brutus Stearns Doctor, I die hard; but I am not afraid to go; I believed from my first attack that I should not survive it; my breath can not last long. Haunting and poignant, these are George Washington’s final recorded words, spoken as life slipped from his body. His death occurred on December 14, 1799. He had lived to the age of…
Pope Leo XIV & New Beginnings
As I edit this blog post, the television is on. I’m watching as Pope Leo XIV rides in the Popemobile through St. Peter’s Square. This is the first of many times that he will do this. He is waving at people from all different countries. I see American and Peruvian flags in the crowd. They both make me feel warm inside; my mother is Peruvian and I was born and live in the USA. Diplomats and world…
Book Review: Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
I finished reading this last night. I had started in October but became sidetracked due to life things; I’m glad I came back to it during the Christmas season, because it is a perfect book to read during Advent. George is a sickly child who is aware that he won’t live to adulthood. He finds solace and escape in C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. He asks his older sister, who…
Review: His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
In many aspects, George Washington is a mystery to us, despite the many books that have been written about him. He hadn’t even died yet before myths began to emerge surrounding him. His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis is a concise biography of a man who has had volumes dedicated to him since the founding of this country. It portrays Washington’s younger years, describes moments when Washington…
Historic Bite #1 - Boticelli’s Muse
Who was the woman that posed for Botticelli’s Birth of Venus? One of the most famous pieces of Renaissance art is The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. It depicts the goddess emerging from the sea on a giant shell, surrounded by two figures preparing to dress her in robes of silk. She covers herself modestly while waiting for her clothing to arrive. Her red hair is caught in the wind, as if…
Review: A Thousand Heartbeats
“Love has a sound. … It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time. … The thing is, some of us have been taught to listen for it, so when it comes, it’s all too easy to hear over the noise. For others, there are too many other sounds drowning it out. … But when it finally breaks through, it’s a symphony.” from A Thousand Heartbeats The Selection series by Kiera Cass was a…
A Witchy Sort of Reading List
As I type this, my feet are feeling the chill from a draft creeping in from the outside. Our days are warm and sunny; nights and early mornings bring chill, nature’s routine promise of rest for the earth and all creatures that live on it. I’ve always been quick to admit that autumn is my favorite season, with the laid-back atmosphere and the spooky stories that crop up due to Halloween, autumn’s…
A Gentle July
Aside from the extreme temperatures that can make it difficult to sit outside, I have found that June and July have gentle on my soul. I have not had a ‘cruel summer’ (as a Swiftie, I must get the reference in); where there was occasional unrest, matters settled quickly, and I have enjoyed the sunset every day. This month, July, I accidentally found myself writing a new book. Well, not…
Two Ways of Writing
I’ve been thinking about the writing process—specifically, that of storytelling, finding the thread of a tale and pulling to see where it might lead. The magic of writing, when that art becomes one’s true love, is that it willingly takes the storyteller to places they had never in the past imagined. Storytelling is the gift of opening a wardrobe and wandering into a world unlike that which we…
The Aftermath of Decluttering a Bookcase
In a previous post, I spoke of how I’d decided decluttering would be beneficial—not only for my room, but also for my creativity, mental health, and motivation. I started digging through my collection, creating a keep pile and a donate pile, and I was constantly surprised by books I owned that I had outgrown or forgotten about. By the end of this, I saw myself doing something I had never…
Declutterring a Bookcase
It has been a busy summer. I cleared out all of my bookshelves this week in order to donate things I was no longer interested in or those which I had read and did not like. The process taught me much about myself: in seeing the books I chose to keep, I learned what I am truly interested in and the topics which ignite in me fascination. It is also fulfilling to know the donated books will…