by Kristin A. Oakley | Feb 22, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
I picked up this month’s novel, Detour, at the independent bookstore Arcadia Books in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and couldn’t wait to get to it. Jeff Rake, creator of Netflix’s Manifest, and bestselling author Rob Hart, wrote the tale of six people...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Jan 25, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
To start this year’s Writer’s Book Club, I’ve selected Stephen King’s novella The Life of Chuck. At only 109 pages, $20 seems pricey for the slim, small hardcover, but it includes images in the lower-right-hand corner of a man dancing....
by Kristin A. Oakley | Dec 7, 2025 | Books and Movies, For Readers, Newsletter
Here are eight fantastic books and two outstanding games I highly recommend just in time for holiday shopping. Enjoy! Three Children’s Picture Books The Cow Buzzed by Andrea Zimmerman and Paul Meisel – a bee visits a farm and sneezes, spreading his cold...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Oct 20, 2025 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
With the days growing cooler and the leaves exploding with color, my daughter Jessica and I have been on a fire-in-the-fireplace, buttered-popcorn, horror-movie-watching binge. So, I’m sharing fourteen of my favorite horror movies and TV shows. Note: I’ll...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Aug 18, 2025 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
I’ve recently discovered Blake Crouch and his sci-fi, dystopian novels including Dark Matter and Recursion, so I went looking for more of his work and discovered Pines. The first book in the Wayward Pines Trilogy, this novel had me hooked the minute I started...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Jul 20, 2025 | Books and Movies, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
As a big Hunger Games fan, I was looking forward to Suzanne Collins’ latest addition to the series, Sunrise on the Reaping. The first book, The Hunger Games, is so well written, I refer to it often in my Crafting Unforgettable Characters workshop. Honestly, I...
