HI THERE! I'M BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI, FREELANCE WRITER, HISTORICAL RESEARCHER, & PERPETUAL SEEKER OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. WELCOME TO MY SPACE WHERE I SHARE THE BOOKS I'M READING, MY SPIRITUAL FINDINGS, FLOWERS IN MY GARDEN, AND LOST STORIES. ALL ARE WELCOME HERE.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love Walter de la Mare! Although I gave this a three, it is only because his other work is so fabulous that this one failed to thrill by comparison. Much of his work carries the theme of isolation. In The Return, although not his best work, the protagonist gets possessed by a dead … Continue reading The Return by Walter de la Mare
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Although written in 1915 this suspense novel by Joseph Conrad feels incredibly modern. I couldn’t believe the date myself as it seemed more like a mid-century novel. I liked it once it got rolling. Heyst is a loner who has spent much of his life living on an island, but when he rescues a … Continue reading Victory by Joseph Conrad
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Today, if an agent were presented a query letter and the manuscript of Adam Bede, they would have rejected it over and over again and society would have lost a fabulous story. But I doubt that many people today would have the patience for this book. It took 100+ pages for me to get into … Continue reading Adam Bede by George Elliot
It’s time for me to share some spooky reads! . . I enjoyed this a lot though it was a bit dark. It seems to lose color as one progresses into the story, which is a result of Wilde’s genius. It seemed, in my memory, to begin with pink gardens in the light of day … Continue reading Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
In 1835 a Mr. Hayden W. Dooley journaled this inside Vol. 2 of Hawks of Hawk Hollow, a play by Robert Montgomery Bird, while waiting for a train: . . “Arrived here at Hamilton at 9 o’clock and being just 5 minutes too late for the Oxford train the next thing is to prepare ourselves … Continue reading Lost Story: 💕 Finding inscriptions in #oldbooks!! #Read this one from 1835!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Samuel Pepys was a scoundrel! The way he went about seducing every woman he saw makes me think he had some sort of undiagnosed sex addiction. One woman had to threaten to poke him with her pin in church if he touched her again! 😆 . . But it is a very good thing … Continue reading Samuel Pepys’ Diary by Himself
I will share with you my first journal entry I wrote after reading this book which is one of the four Gospels. Starts with a quote then my thoughts: . . “Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." - John 3:3 . … Continue reading Reviewing the book of John
Just started reading this. The Life of St. Teresa of Avila by Herself. Heard she was very hardcore—visions and mystical occurrences. She was born in 1515 in Spain. She was a Christian mystic, like the monk Luis de Leon (I reviewed his work about a month ago), a category of Christianity under which my own … Continue reading The Life of St. Teresa of Avila by Herself
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️On this rainy day I want to remember one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It is very different from the film as the book is more like a journal of events occurring on the African farm of Karen Blixen. I think her friendship with Denys Finch-Hatton is the most touching, and the … Continue reading Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
No book review today, but I wanted to share with you an old relic... remnants of the Dewey decimal filing system!! 💕 An archaic method of finding book call numbers before computers. A system which almost turned me off books forever! I remember I was in second or third grade when the librarians showed us … Continue reading The Dewey Decimal Files
BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI 